Selection of bucket teeth material according to the service condition of bucket teeth, while summarizing the shortcomings of high manganese steel bucket teeth in use, we carried out chemical and metallographic analysis on the imported bucket teeth. The imported bucket teeth are made of high silicon steel with high content. See Table 1 for the scope of main chemical components.
| C | Si | Mn | Cr | Mo | V | Cu |
| 0.31 | 1.21 | 1.02 | 1.35 | 0.25 | 0.03 | <0.1 |
The metallographic analysis of imported bucket teeth shows that its structure is tempered martensite and its hardness is in the range of 450-480hv. On the basis of the original imported bucket teeth, we determined the chemical composition range of domestic bucket teeth. See Table 2.
| C | Si | Mn | P | S | Cr | Mo | Cu | Nb |
| 0.31-0.35 | 0.6-0.8 | 1.2-1.4 | <0.02 | <0.02 | 0.6-0.8 | 0.3-0.4 | <0.05 | 0.08-0.10 |
From the perspective of the selected chemical composition, it is close to the imported bucket teeth, but other alloys have been fine tuned to increase the amount of Nb alloy, because the addition of Nb element can form niobium particles in the matrix, thus increasing the wear resistance and service life of bucket teeth.